WEST LAYAFETTE, Ind. -- The University of Michigan men's track and field team was led by a pair of scorers in the hammer throw and 10,000-meter run on the opening day of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships on Friday (May 16) at Purdue's Rankin Track and Field.

Fifth-year senior Ethan Dennis (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grandville) and junior/sophomore Brad Bolton(Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro) each advanced to the nine-man final in the hammer throw, where they eventually finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively. Dennis squeaked into the final round on his final throw in flight two (58.02m, 190-4) and then hit his best mark of the day at 62.62 meters (205-5) on his sixth and final throw to take fourth place. Bolton hit 59.45 meters (195-0) on his second throw to move him through to the final, and he increased that mark to 61.25 meters (200-11) on his fifth overall throw to finish in fifth place. The two combined to register Michigan's first nine points of the championship meet.

In the 10,000-meter run, senior/junior Morsi Rayyan(Dewitt, Mich./St. Johns), senior/junior Mark Beams(Vicksburg, Mich./Vicksburg) and junior/sophomore August Pappas(Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea) each improved upon their personal-best times by at least 10 seconds, finishing 7-8-10.

By the halfway mark, Rayyan and Beams had established themselves in the sixth and seventh positions, respectively, and were looking strong. They each remained between fifth and 10th place through the 22-minute mark and with three laps to go, Rayyan had climbed his way into fourth place. Rayyan hit the final straightaway in sixth place but was edged by Ohio State's Blake Taneff, while Beams picked off Jannis Topfer of Illinois in the final 20 meters to secure the final scoring spot. Rayyan crossed the line at 29:12.94, registering more than a 30-second personal record, while Beam's time of 29:15.70 was a 20-second personal best. Pappas shaved 11 seconds off his previous collegiate-best time, running 29:29.16.

Eight teams have recorded points through the first two scoring events, with Wisconsin owning the lead with 32 total points and the Maize and Blue sitting in second place with 12 points overall. The Wolverines will return to Rankin Track and Field tomorrow (Saturday, May 17) for the second day of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, which is set to begin at 11:30 a.m.

N O T E S

 Brad Bolton was just one inch shy of his collegiate-best mark with his toss of 61.25 meters (200-11) in the hammer throw.

 The winning time in this year's men's 10,000-meter run of 29:06.10, which was run by Wisconsin's Connor Reed, was 19 seconds faster than last year's top time of 29:25.11 from Wisconsin's Maverick Darling.